Curse of Each Season
Bad Luck
Ritsu rolled over in his futon. It was still dark, but he could see fairly well. Rubbing his eyes, he got out of bed.
It was silent in the Kasanes' home, as nobody was awake and the snow outside absorbed all sound. Even Ritsu's footsteps were muted, and he didn't exactly step lightly. He moved down the hall, and entered the room in which he had spent most of the previous night discussing Teto's curse with her family. There was a cabinet on the wall in the far corner. Ritsu slipped over, opened it, and took out a blank scroll and writing supplies. With his arms full, he clumsily placed the items on the table and sat down.
He unrolled the scroll, and brought the brush to the paper, but stopped, realizing he would need some light in order to write properly. He sighed, sulking back to the cabinet.
X
Strangely, Teto couldn't sleep. It was odd, putting her curse into consideration. It was winter, she should have been too tired to move. Still, she slowly crawled out of bed and down the hall in search of something a bit more entertaining.
X
Ritsu sifted through the cluttered cabinet. He pulled a book out in hopes to find a candle or lamp behind it, but instead it just triggered an avalanche of papers and scrolls to fall.
"FUU-!" Ritsu nearly cussed as something heavy drove into his foot. "Ow!"
He heard a door slide open behind him.
"Ritsu, what are you doing?" Teto stood in the doorway.
He tried shoving some of the clutter back into the cabinet, but it toppled out again. "I was trying to work some things out, and I tried looking for a lamp, but I had...a bit of trouble..." He scowled at the mountain of papers at his feet.
"Ah," Teto nodded in understanding. "I have one. Wait here." She slid the door closed and hobbled back down the hall.
Ritsu bent down, scooped up most of the miscellaneous items, and stuffed them into the cabinet. He slammed it closed and ignored the few papers on the floor that he had missed. He sat down at the table by his scroll as Teto slowly entered the room again.
A small oil lamp hung from her hand. She set it down in the middle of the table and sat on her knees next to Ritsu.
"Wait a minute, Teto, are you alright?" Ritsu questioned the pink haired girl.
"I-I'm fine. It's the curse, I'm f-fine." Her teeth were chattering, and she shivered. "Please, don't make me go back to bed."
"I won't." He assured her. But he quickly got up and went back to his room to get her a blanket. He returned, and wrapped it around her.
"Thank you," She cuddled held the blanket closer. "So, what are you doing, again?"
He picked up the brush and dipped it in some of the ink. "I'm making a list."
"Of what?"
"Theories. Theories about your curse, what cast it upon your family, and how we can break it."
"Oh, alright."
He began writing on the tan paper with quick, short strokes.
Theory number one: The curse is caused by bad luck.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Teto frowned at the words he wrote on the paper.
"Your family might have had awful luck."
"Well, obviously, but wouldn't that just mean bad things happen to us? It wouldn't cause a curse, right? I mean, maybe a curse of bad luck, when nothing goes good, but something like the one I have? How would that work?"
Ritsu twirled the brush in his hand. "Maybe, long ago, your ancestors did something. Maybe they broke a mirror. Maybe they killed a ladybug. Maybe they set a shrine on fire," Ritsu shrugged. "All of those things are considered bad luck, some more than others. Now, luck is usually not affiliated with karma or fate or something along those lines, as many people think. Usually, luck is just mischievous spirits playing pranks on people to scare their pants off. Certain spirits are known to only target people who do certain things, say, break a mirror. That's how myths about what causes bad luck develop. But the pranks these spirits pull can get rather serious, and have been known to result in death. That's why bad luck is taken very seriously by some people."
"But how does that make a curse happen?" Teto wore an expression of utter confusion across her face.
"Maybe your ancestors were very superstitious. Maybe they did something that could cause a spirit to target them, thus giving them 'bad luck'. Now, Teto, if you were terrified of bad luck, and you just broke a mirror, what would you do?"
"I would... figure out a way to get rid of my bad luck."
"Right!" Ritsu exclaimed. "And one way of getting rid of diseases, problems, and bad luck, is to go to a shrine and ask the spirits to help or forgive you. But not all spirits are forgiving and kind. Some spirits are hateful and mean. So, my theory is, that your ancestors went to a shrine to get rid of their bad luck, and got cursed by an evil, annoyed spirit without even knowing it!" Ritsu pointed his finger In the air, proving his point.
"That theory... is confusing..." Teto scratched her head.
"True. Most of the things I think up are more complicated than useful," He turned back to his scroll and tapped the brush, making a few drops of ink fall on the paper. "But it makes sense. People make things up because they don't know the truth. You know that scroll you have, with the story of your curse on it?"
Teto nodded slowly.
"Maybe someone felt that they needed a story behind the curse. And then, Lord Kasane's daughter wandered off in the night and froze to death, and that gave them an idea. Or maybe, the curse kicked in after she died. The story really does make sense if bad luck is a factor in it."
Teto smiled. "It's really fun to listen to your theories. It's like hearing a story."
Ritsu gave her his silly grin. "Oh, really? Well I've got more, if you want to hear them."
I am such a fool.
Why? Because a few chapters ago, in the part with the scroll, I said 'Kagamine' rather than 'Kasane', like I meant. And I was going to mention it in the last chapter, but guess what? I forgot. So here I am now, telling you about my ridiculous, confusing, inexcusable mistake. But we all make mistakes, right?
Still, I apologize for confusing you, if I did.
So, because I feel really bad about it, I updated extra fast. Kind of.
Anyways, I like that this story is turning into some sort of mystery. I, personally, really like the direction it's going in. Not to mention, it's really fun to write. I usually don't plan my stories out, so it's suspenseful for me, not knowing what I'll write next.
Please continue to read this story! And review, too, nicely. What do you think of Ritsu's theory? Stay less foolish than I am, okay? ~Meimei
